Ouya

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Ouya
Developer OUYA Inc.
Manufacturer BOXER8
Type Video game console
Release date December 28, 2012 (Devs)
March 28, 2013 (Kickstarter)
June 25, 2013 (Retail)
Introductory price $99 USD
£99 GBP
Operating system Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
System-on-chip used Nvidia Tegra 3 (T33) SoC[1][2]
CPU 1.7 GHz Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A9
Storage capacity 8 GB internal flash memory
Memory 1 GiB DDR3 SDRAM
Display HDMI
1080p, 720p
Graphics Nvidia ULP GeForce
Input USB 2.0 (one)
Micro USB (for connection to PC) [3]
Controller input Wireless controller
Connectivity
Dimensions 75 mm (2.95 inch) cube[3]
Website www.ouya.tv

The Ouya (/ˈuːˌjə/ OO-yah), stylized OUYA,[4] is a video game console running its own version of the Android operating system. Julie Uhrman, a game industry veteran,[5] founded the project in 2012.[6] She brought in designer Yves Béhar to collaborate on the design of the project,[7] and Muffi Ghadiali as product manager to put together the engineering team.[8] Development was funded via Kickstarter, raising $8.5 million and becoming the website's second-highest-earning project in its history. Units started to ship to Kickstarter backers on March 28, 2013. The console is due to be released to the general public on June 25, 2013.[9]

The Ouya will feature an exclusive Ouya store for applications and games designed specifically for the Ouya platform. Out of the box, Ouya will include the TwitchTV application and access to the OnLive video game streaming service.[6] Initially it is expected to run on a modified version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and be open to rooting without voiding the warranty (developer models ordered during the Kickstarter campaign for $699 or $1,337 will come pre-rooted).[6] The console's hardware design will allow it to be easily opened up, requiring only a standard screwdriver to allow easy modding and possible hardware addons.[10]

All systems can be used as development kits, allowing any Ouya owner and gamer to also be a developer, without the need for licensing fees. All games will be required to have some kind of free-to-play aspect,[6] whether that be completely free, has a free trial, or has purchasable upgrades, levels, or other in-game items. One of Ouya's main competitors is the GameStick.[11]

Contents

History[edit]

Ouya was announced on July 3, 2012 as a new home video game console, led by the CEO of Boxer8, Julie Uhrman. On July 10, Ouya started a Kickstarter campaign to gauge how many people were interested in the project.[6] Boxer8 confirmed having a working prototype[12] with in-progress software and user interface. Boxer8 is expected to provide their own Ouya store for apps and games. The prototype and initially planned console will run on Android 4.1. It features an Nvidia Tegra 3 chip and a price tag of $99 ($95 for 1000 "early birds" to the Kickstarter campaign).

The Kickstarter fundraising goal was raised within 8 hours. Funding continued to increase as more models were made available at various funding levels. According to Kickstarter, in reaching its goal, Ouya holds the record for best first day performance of any project hosted to date. Within the first 24 hours the project attracted one backer every 5.59 seconds. Ouya became the most quickly funded project on Kickstarter to reach one million dollars, and went on to become the eighth project in Kickstarter history to raise more than a million dollars.[13][14] The Ouya Kickstarter page featured an introduction video, which explained various aspects of the console, showcased the process of designing of the 3" touchpad-sporting controller, and gave viewers a glimpse of the motherboard. It also presented the first looks of the console's game store, showing several games from indie developers who had supported and shown interest in Ouya.

On July 19, 2012, Robert Bowling, former Creative Strategist at Infinity Ward, announced in a blog post[15] and through an update on the Ouya Kickstarter page[6] that his newly formed studio Robotoki would be the first developer to commit to creating a game exclusively for the Ouya. The game will be an episodic prequel to Robotoki's Human Element, a post-zombie-apocalyptic game scheduled for release in 2015.

On July 31, 2012, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy III would be made available as a launch title for Ouya.[16]

On August 7, 2012, the developers of XBMC announced a partnership with Ouya to bring XBMC to the Ouya.[17][18]

On August 8, 2012, it was announced that Namco Bandai was in discussions to bring their games to the system. The same day, Ouya also announced the Plex Media Center is also coming to the Ouya.[19]

On August 9, 2012, the Kickstarter finished with $8,596,475 at 904% of their goal. This made the Ouya Kickstarter the second-highest earning in the website's history.

On October 31, 2012, Boxer8 announced that the first development run of Ouya PCBs, plastic prototype cases, and that they are currently in the Engineering Verification Testing phase of production.[20] Devkits for the Ouya as well as the software development kit were planned for release before the end of 2012;[21] on December 28, the console developers posted an unboxing video of one of the dev kits that were being shipped that day.[22] Ouya units for Kickstarter funders started to ship on March 28, 2013.[23]

There are currently 481 confirmed Ouya games being developed, of which 132 games have been confirmed by Ouya or a developer.[24]

Hardware[edit]

The Ouya is a 3 inch cube designed to display to a TV through a HDMI connection. It ships with a single wireless controller, though can support multiple controllers. Games are available via digital distribution only.

Specifications[edit]

Ouya
Price: US $99
SoC: nVidia Tegra 3 T33-P-A3[25]
CPU: Quad-core 1.7 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore (ARMv7-A architecture)

NEON Advanced SIMD extensions and VFPv3 Floating Point unit
GPU: nVidia GeForce ULP @ 520 MHz (12.48 GFLOPS)

Hardware 1080p MPEG-4 AVC/h.264 40 Mbit/s High-Profile, VC1-AP, and DivX 5/6 video decode
Memory (RAM): 1 GiB DDR3-1600 SDRAM [25][26]
USB ports: 1 USB 2.0, 1 microUSB
Video output: HDMI 1.4, 1080p or 720p resolution.[27] Stereoscopic 3D support.
Audio output: HDMI (ARC)
Internal storage: 8 GB eMMC flash memory[25][28]
Networking and Wireless: 10/100 Ethernet (8P8C)[25][29], 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth LE 4.0
Power consumption: 4.5 watts (gaming), 1 watt (standby)
Power source: 12 volt DC via Coaxial power connector (OD 5.50mm, ID 2.50mm, Center Positive)
Size: 75×75×82 mm (3.0×3.0×3.2 in)
Weight: 300 g (11 oz)
Operating system: Android 4.1 (Jellybean) with custom Ouya launcher.
Notes
  1. Hardware video decode supported by experimental XBMC using libstagefright.[30]

Controller[edit]

The Ouya controller is a typical gamepad with dual analogue sticks, a directional pad, 4 face buttons (labeled O, U, Y and A) and pairs of back bumpers and triggers. It also includes a single-touch touchpad in the center of the controller. [31]

Reports suggest alternate controllers may be used with the console (including those from the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii) but only for compatible games.[32][33]

Reception[edit]

OUYA Developer Console

Pre-release[edit]

While initial reception of the Ouya was positive, raising $3.7 million on Kickstarter in the first two days, there were a number of vocal critics who were skeptical of the ability of the fledgling company to deliver a product at all. On July 12, 2012 PC Magazine's Sascha Segan ran an op-ed entitled "Why Kickstarter's Ouya Looks Like a Scam"[34] which was critical not only of the Ouya, but of all Kickstarter-funded hardware projects. Unreality Magazine defended the Ouya, stating "A scam implies some sort of intentionally illegal deceit." ... "Tapping multiple investors from multiple sources isn’t a scam, it’s not even illegal, it’s business."[35]

Developer-release[edit]

On December 31, 2012, PC Magazine reported on some initial developer opinions of the development console, noting that the early experience appears to provide "what looks to be a pretty robust platform for surfing the Internet and playing games."[36] Critics panned Boxer8's decision to use a disc-shaped directional pad,[37] prompting Boxer8 to redesign aspects of the controller for the general release. The retail controller will feature a standard cross-style D-pad, rubberized thumbsticks, redesigned triggers, and a more responsive touchpad than the one that shipped with developer consoles.[38][39]

Pre-order release[edit]

Engadget reviewed the founding backer pre-order version of the Ouya on April 3, 2013. While praising the low cost and ease of hacking the console, it reported issues with controller buttons becoming stuck beneath the controller plating and the right analog stick snagging on the plating. It also reported a slight lag between the controller and the console and went on to say the controller was "usable, but it's far from great." [40]

The Verge reported similar issues with the controller and said the construction quality gave it a "cheap, breakable feel." While it also praised the hacking and openness of the console, calling it "a device with lots of potential and few true limitations", the review was mostly negative and was critical of the interface and game launch choice and stated that "Ouya isn't a viable gaming platform, or a good console, or even a nice TV interface."[41]

iFixit says that the console and controller can each be disassembled "with little difficulty", and gave the Ouya a "9 out of 10 on the repairability scale".[42]

See also[edit]

Portal icon Video games portal

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bierton, David (2012-08-11). "Tech Analysis: How Powerful is Tegra 3? • Articles •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
  2. ^ Kelly, Christina. "EXCLUSIVE OUYA Interview with YOUR Questions!". Retrieved 12 December 2012. 
  3. ^ a b Previous update. "OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console by OUYA » It's Open Season! — Kickstarter". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
  4. ^ "OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console" (Embedded FLV). Ouya via Kickstarter. 1′31″. Retrieved 2012-07-30. 
  5. ^ "How OUYA Created a Trending Brand in Less than a Day". Momentum Media Marketing. 2012-07-25. Retrieved 2012-07-29. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f Launched: Jul. 10, 2012 (2012-07-10). "OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console by OUYA — Kickstarter". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2012-07-29. 
  7. ^ "OUYA". fuseproject. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  8. ^ "OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console by OUYA » Welcome Muffi! — Kickstarter". Kickstarter.com. 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2012-07-29. 
  9. ^ http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/09/ouya-retail-launch-delayed-to-june-25th
  10. ^ Wawro, Alex. "Why Ouya Is Making A Killing On Kickstarter". Retrieved 12 July 2012. 
  11. ^ "GameStick Takes on Ouya as a Portable Android Games Console". IGN. 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2013-04-09. 
  12. ^ "The Mastermind Behind the Ouya Console Is Answering Your Best Questions Right Here". Kotaku.com. 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2012-07-29. 
  13. ^ Strickler, Yancey. "Ouya’s Big Day". Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  14. ^ "Ouya game console kicks off strong". Retrieved 11 July 2012. 
  15. ^ Bowling, Robert. "19 Jul 2012". Robotoki: The Official Blog. Retrieved 20 July 2012. 
  16. ^ "Square Enix, for the game platform "OUYA" new offer "Final Fantasy III"". Square Enix. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012. 
  17. ^ Julie Uhrman. "OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console". Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  18. ^ XBMC and Ouya? Oh yeah! August 7th, 2012 natethomas (2012-08-07). "and Ouya? Oh yeah!". XBMC. Retrieved 2012-11-19. 
  19. ^ "OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console by OUYA » 15 hours to go... — Kickstarter". Kickstarter.com. Retrieved 2012-11-19. 
  20. ^ Fingas, Jon (2012-10-31). "OUYA upgrades to Jelly Bean, gives early hardware details to game developers". Engadget. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  21. ^ Cifladi, Frank (30 November 2012). "Ouya hits its first milestone: Devkits shipping on time in December". Gamasutra. Retrieved 30 November 2012. 
  22. ^ Buckley, Sean (2012-12-28). "Ouya developer console gets an official unboxing, flaunts transparent case (video)". Engadget. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  23. ^ Sarkar, Samit (2013-02-28). "Ouya ships to backers March 28". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-02-28. 
  24. ^ "List of Games Coming to the OUYA". Ouyaforum.com. Retrieved 2013-01-20. 
  25. ^ a b c d "Ouya Teardown". ifixit.com. 
  26. ^ "4Gb B-die DDR3 SDRAM". Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Retrieved 8 June 2013. 
  27. ^ "Setup Instructions for the OUYA ODK". Ouya. Retrieved 8 June 2013. "The OUYA console supports 720p or 1080p output only." 
  28. ^ "Kingston eMMC Datasheet (KE4CN3K6A)". Kingston Technology Corporation. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013. 
  29. ^ "SMSC - LAN9500, LAN9500A - Hi-Speed USB 2.0 to 10/100 Ethernet Controllers". SMSC. Retrieved 8 June 2013. 
  30. ^ Scott, Ned. "libstagefright - Experimental hardware video decoding builds". XBMC. Retrieved 8 June 2013. 
  31. ^ "The final OUYA retail console is ready, we go hands-on". engadget.com. 
  32. ^ "OUYA works with Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers wirelessly". pocket-lint.com. 
  33. ^ "Matt Thorson's TowerFall hits OUYA at launch, works with Xbox 360 controllers". http://indiegames.com. 
  34. ^ Segan, Sascha (2012-07-12). "Why Kickstarter's Ouya Looks Like a Scam". Pcmag.com. Retrieved 2013-03-28. 
  35. ^ Trackback URI (2012-07-19). "Ouya: Innovative Idea or Sleazy Scam?". Unrealitymag.com. Retrieved 2013-03-28. 
  36. ^ Poeter, Damon (2012-12-31). "Devs Provide First Look at Ouya Console". Pcmag.com. Retrieved 2013-03-28. 
  37. ^ "Watch the Ouya developer console unboxing, "D-pad and triggers that are less than great"". Geek.com. 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2013-03-28. 
  38. ^ "OUYA controller takes criticism, makes changes". Gamernode.com. Retrieved 2013-03-28. 
  39. ^ "It’s all about control". Ouya.tv. Retrieved 2013-03-28. 
  40. ^ Stevens, Tim. "OUYA review (founding backer edition)". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  41. ^ David Pierce (2013-02-12). "Ouya review: can an indie console take on Sony and Microsoft?". The Verge. Retrieved 2013-04-04. 
  42. ^ "Ouya Teardown". ifixit.com. Retrieved 2013-05-08. 

External links[edit]

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